Nowhere in the country would you encounter such a
profusion of forts. And such variety. Sited on an island, as at
Murud-Janjira or guarding the seas as at Bassein, or among the Sahyadri
hills, as at Raigad, whose zig-zag walls and rounded bastions sit like a
sceptre and crown amidst hills turned mauve.
Most
of the forts in Maharashtra whether up in the hills or near the seas
are associated with Shivaji --the great Maratha warrior and an equally
great fort builder. Moreover, these forts were treated as mini-cities,
such as Panhala, which is now a hill station. The concept of the
fort-city was, however, not peculiar to Shivaji alone. The Portuguese
who came to India as traders and missionaries, built within a century of
their coming, Bassein, a garden city to rival many a European capital.
Pratapgarh
Lohgad
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